"Laws of nature, natural phenomena and abstract ideas are not patentable," said the decision by Justice Stephen Breyer, who overturned a previous ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in favor of Prometheus' two patents. "[A]n application of a law of nature ... must do more than simply state the law of nature while adding the words 'apply it' ... [t]he claims are consequently invalid."

Is sanity making a comeback? Have the courts stopped smoking crack? Is this a sign of the end-times? Is the fabric of reality peeling away?

This is very good news. The implications for software patents should be obvious. Those "software patents" that are nothing more than throwing labels on basic mathematics are now on shaky ground.

Let's hope that the trend persists, and we hear more about these kinds of things!

BTW - Don't you love the judge's wording there? "...simply state the law of nature while adding the words 'apply it'..." Love that!

Depends on what political side you're on. If you're on the liberal side, you might think sanity was coming back, but then you might check yesterday's Supreme Court ruling on other things. If you're on the conservative side, same situation, one decision seems sane, the other not.

Depends on what political side you're on. If you're on the liberal side, you might think sanity was coming back, but then you might check yesterday's Supreme Court ruling on other things. If you're on the conservative side, same situation, one decision seems sane, the other not.

I don't understand how patenting laws of nature can be considered sane from any political view point.

Like, what utter nonsense to run to the patent office and claim "1 + 0 = 1" and "1 + 1 = 2"? Once you've got those 2 patents, there are very few things/people that don't infringe on them. Whether the law of nature is currently known or not isn't particularly relevant. We use laws of nature all the time, and allowing them to be patented is simply absurd, irrespective of political viewpoint.

Here's an insane example...

Discover a new process chemical/electro-chemical process in the lungs, patent it, then charge everyone worldwide for the right to breathe. And withhold the patent grant from people you don't like so that they are forced to suffocate to death.